Conformal aperture engine sensors and mesh network

ABSTRACT

Wireless sensor devices are described which harvest energy and provide an antenna or antennas for wireless communication on a relatively small form factor, preferably one that is co-extensive with a largest component of the device, e.g., an antenna layer or sensor layer. The devices are able to sense and/or control certain specific parameters of a system; store energy, e.g., in a supercapacitor system or battery system; transmit that as information/signals via a wireless link, e.g., RF or optical link; receive information from other devices and relay that information. Such devices accordingly may be self-powered and wireless devices, and not dependent on a separate device or form factor to provide a power source. Such devices can be entirely autonomous or substantially so, can be mobile or fixed, and may require little servicing over a period of time. The devices can be used as sensor nodes in a wireless mesh network.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/653,918 entitled “Conformal Aperture Engine Sensors and MeshNetwork,” filed Mar. 8, 2022, which issues on May 30, 2023 as U.S. Pat.No. 11,662,233, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 16/427,154 entitled “Conformal Aperture Engine Sensors and MeshNetwork,” filed May 30, 2019, and issued Mar. 8, 2022 as U.S. Pat. No.11,268,837, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/405,340 entitled “Methods and Apparatus for EnhancedRadiation Characteristics from Antennas and Related Components,” filedMay 7, 2019, and issued Nov. 19, 2019 as U.S. Pat. No. 10,483,649; U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/427,154 is also based upon and claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/677,789, entitled“Conformal Aperture Engine Sensors and Mesh Network,” filed May 30,2018; the entire content of each of the foregoing applications areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Wireless networks have been able to provide people with the ability tocommunicate worldwide using various radio frequency (“RF”) devices. Manytasks, industrial processes, and environmental conditions, however,typically require or benefit from monitoring and/or communication thatis autonomous (machine-driven), with little, if any human guidance orintervention, e.g., radiation sensing at locations known to havesignificant radioactivity. As further examples, many machines typicallyoperate with governors and internal control systems that providefeedback on their environment, energy use and needs, response to varyingtime driven demands of use, and so on. Most of these now communicatethrough wired connections through the internet, allowing distant controland monitoring. Wireless sensor networks have been proposed formonitoring devices, processes, and areas but power generation has provento be problematic or unreliable for such devices.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure is directed to wireless devices thatharvest energy and provide an antenna or antennas for wireless access orcommunication on a relatively small form factor, preferably one that isco-extensive with a largest component of the device, e.g., an antennalayer or sensor layer. The devices are able to sense and/or controlcertain specific parameters of a system; store energy, e.g., in asupercapacitor system or battery system; transmit that asinformation/signals via a wireless link, e.g., RF or optical link;receive information from other devices and relay that information. Suchdevices accordingly may be self-powered and wireless devices, and notdependent on a separate device or form factor to provide a power source.Such devices can be entirely autonomous or substantially so, can bemobile or fixed, and may require little servicing over a period of time.Devices according to the present disclosure can thus be used as sensornodes in a network, e.g., a wireless mesh network.

These, as well as other components, steps, features, objects, benefits,and advantages, will now become clear from a review of the followingdetailed description of illustrative embodiments, the accompanyingdrawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The drawings are of illustrative embodiments. They do not illustrate allembodiments. Other embodiments may be used in addition or instead.Details that may be apparent or unnecessary may be omitted to save spaceor for more effective illustration. Some embodiments may be practicedwith additional components or steps and/or without all of the componentsor steps that are illustrated. When the same numeral appears indifferent drawings, it refers to the same or like components or steps.

FIG. 1 depicts an example of a general aperture engine sensor (AES)structure, in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts an AES layer possessing a degree of lacunarity, inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts steps in a method of operation of an AES, in accordancewith exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Illustrative embodiments are now described. Other embodiments may beused in addition or instead. Details that may be apparent or unnecessarymay be omitted to save space or for a more effective presentation. Someembodiments may be practiced with additional components or steps and/orwithout all of the components or steps that are described.

An aspect of the present disclosure is directed to wireless devices thatharvest or collect energy (for example, solar energy) from theenvironment or location in which they are placed and provide an antennaor antennas for wireless access or communication on a relatively smallform factor, preferably one that is coextensive with a largest componentof the device, e.g., an antenna layer. The devices are able to senseand/or control certain specific parameters of a system (a motor orenvironmental conditions, as non-limiting examples); store energy(harvested from the local environment), e.g., in a supercapacitor systemor battery system; transmit collected data as signals via a wirelesscommunication link, e.g., RF or optical link; the devices may also beable to receive information from other devices and relay them on orover, for example, a mesh network. Such devices may accordingly beself-powered and wireless devices, and not dependent on a separatedevice or form factor to provide a power source. This means that suchdevices can be entirely or substantially entirely autonomous, can bemobile or fixed, and may require little servicing over a period of time.Devices according to the present disclosure can thus be used as sensornodes in a network, e.g., a wireless mesh network.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include systems, apparatus, and/ormethods providing functionality for devices to operate autonomouslyand/or wirelessly in connection to/with a network such as the Internet,a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”) or other suchnetwork(s). Embodiments of the present disclosure are able to gatherdata and transmit data to or over a network, e.g., to a remote dataacquisition and analysis port, which may be reached, at least in part,wirelessly. In exemplary embodiments, the wireless devices according tothe present disclosure are self-powered and harvest (or, equivalentlystated, procure, derive, or obtain) power wirelessly to/with any and allresources available to the device, e.g., in or from its ambientenvironment.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide wireless deviceshaving a footprint, or form factor, which does not appreciably exceedthat needed for the sensors used for the device(s). The devices arepreferably no larger (e.g., in area) than the largest of the sections orcomponents (e.g., layers) used to execute the respective functions. Inexemplary embodiments, a wireless device may include one or moreantennas or antenna arrays. The antenna(s) or array(s) may be configuredin a layer, e.g., disposed on a flexible or rigid substrate. Suchantennas can have sufficient electrical size so as to avoid being overlyelectrically small. Such antennas can work properly when placed in thevicinity of something or state that is to be monitored by the sensor(s)of the device. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure include,make use of, and/or provide: a power gathering or harvesting section; asensing section, e.g., a sensor layer or device; transmit and ortransceiver apparatus; power storage; and one or more antennas.Exemplary embodiments include or provide a self-powered, wirelesscommunicating sensor that incorporates all of these attributes in thesame form factor, essentially a dual-use or multiple-use of the area or“aperture.” Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure may bereferred to as aperture engine sensors or “AES.”

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a general AES structure (or,simply AES) too according to the present disclosure. As shown, structuretoo can include a stack of layered components or layers no. Exemplarylayers no are indicated as including an antenna layer 112, a sensinglayer (equivalently, “sensor layer”) 114, an energy harvesting layer u6,a processing layer u8, a reception/transmission layer 120, and a powerstorage layer 122. Of course, while structure 100 is shown having apreferred ordering of layers 112-122, other orderings and arrangementsof such layers may be implemented for other embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Each layer of AES 100 may have or provide a single functionality; ofcourse, while this is preferred, a layer can provide more than one orless than a complete functionality in other embodiments. The layers mayhave the same thickness; or the layers may have different thicknesses;some of the layers may have the same or substantially the same thicknesswhile other layers in a stack may have different thicknesses. Moreover,a layer's thickness need not be uniform but may vary across the layer'sarea. In some embodiments, one or more of the layers may have a degreeof lacunarity such that there are one or more voids, holes, or aperturesin the layer; an example of a layer having a degree of lacunarity isshown in FIG. 2 , described in further detail below.

An antenna layer such as antenna layer 112 may include a single antenna,multiple individual antennas, or one or more arrays of antenna elements.In exemplary embodiments, the antenna layer may be substantiallytranslucent and/or transparent to optical radiation (IR, visible, and/orUV); it will be appreciated that such transparency and/or translucencymay facilitate energy harvesting with solar cells, e.g., in an adjacentenergy harvesting layer. In preferred embodiments, an antenna layer 112incorporate fractal and/or metamaterial resonators or antennas or othershaped elements that allow energy collection (or, harvesting) to occurin one or more adjacent components (e.g., layers). Antenna layer 112 maybe designed for operation at desired RF frequencies and wavelengths,e.g., 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, ISM, other cellular bands, and/or WiFi bands,which are given as non-limiting examples. Antenna layer 112 may becomposed of a single layer of material, e.g., unconnected or connectedresonator shapes or antenna elements; or, antenna layer 112 may becomposed of multiple layers of material, e.g., unconnected or connectedresonator shapes or antenna elements disposed on or between one or moresubstrates, e.g., a suitable dielectric substrate such as polyimide,FR4, or the like. Suitable fractal antenna arrays are described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 10,283,872, 10,014,586, U.S. Patent Publication No.2019/0128624, U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,935,503, and 9,482,474; the contents ofall of which patents and published application are incorporated hereinin their respective entireties. Examples of suitable metamaterial shapesfor resonators/antennas include but are not limited to planar split-ringresonators and complementary split-ring resonators.

In exemplary embodiments, antennas of antenna layer 112 may provideenergy harvesting functionality; such functionality may be used by anAES in conjunction with or in place of a separate energy harvestinglayer, e.g., layer n6. For example, layer 112 may include an antennaarray designed, e.g., by appropriate scaling or designed shape of theindividual array elements to receive RF energy from the localenvironment—such RD energy may be ambient at or directed to the positionof the AES. It will be appreciated that while RF signals are describedas being used for exemplary embodiments, the scope of the presentdisclosure is not limited to such; indeed, optical signals—e.g., as sentfrom a laser diode and/or received by a photodetector may betransmitted/received by the antenna layer 112 in other embodiments.

A sensing or sensor component (e.g., layer) such as sensing layer 114may include virtually any type of desired sensor. Examples include butare not limited to temperature sensors, proximity sensors, pressuresensors, chemical sensors, water quality sensors, gas sensors, smokesensors, infrared (IR) sensors, level sensors, image sensors, motiondetection sensors, accelerometer sensors (accelerometers), gyroscopicsensors, humidity sensors, optical sensors, radiation sensors, andmagnetic sensors. In preferred embodiments, sensors have a relativelythin vertical height or thickness such that they facilitate a smalland/or conformable form factor.

Temperature sensors. Examples of temperature sensors within the scope ofthe present disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: thermocouples, resistive (resistor) temperature detectors(RTD), thermistors, integrated circuit (IC), infrared sensors, andbolometers (including but not limited to microbolometers).

Proximity sensors. Examples of proximity sensors within the scope of thepresent disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: capacitive sensors, inductive sensors, photoelectric sensors,and ultrasonic sensors.

Pressure sensors. Examples of pressure sensors within the scope of thepresent disclosure include, but are not limited to,microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based capacitive pressure sensors.

Chemical sensors. Examples of chemical sensors within the scope of thepresent disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: chemical field effect transistors (FETs), chemiresistors,electrochemical gas sensors, fluorescent chloride sensors, hydrogensulfide sensors, nondispersive infrared sensors, pH glass sensors,potentiometric sensors, and zinc oxide nanorod sensors.

Water quality sensors. Examples of water quality sensors within thescope of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, any ofthe following: pH sensors, Oxygen-Reduction Potential sensors,conductivity sensors, turbidity sensors, total organic carbon sensors,and chlorine residual sensors.

Gas sensors. Examples of gas sensors within the scope of the presentdisclosure include, but are not limited to, any of the following: carbondioxide sensors, breathalyzer sensors (detecting ethyl alcohol), carbonmonoxide detectors, catalytic bead sensors, hydrogen sensors, airpollution sensors, nitrogen oxide sensors, oxygen sensors, ozonemonitors, electrochemical gas sensors, gas detectors, and hygrometers.

Smoke sensors. Examples of smoke sensors (equivalently, “smokedetectors”) within the scope of the present disclosure include, but arenot limited to, any of the following: optical smoke sensors(photoelectric), and ionization smoke sensors.

Infrared (IR) sensors. Examples of IR sensors within the scope of thepresent disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: passive sensors including, but not limited tothermocouple-thermopile detectors, bolometers, pyroelectric detectors,photoconductor-based detectors, and photovoltaic detectors such asphotodiodes; active sensors. Suitable known materials (e.g.,semiconductor alloys) and doping levels can be used for specificwavelengths of interest; cooling may be used.

Level sensors. Examples of level sensors within the scope of the presentdisclosure include, but are not limited to, any of the following: pointlevel sensors, and continuous level sensors.

Image sensors. Examples of image sensors within the scope of the presentdisclosure include, but are not limited to, any of the following: chargecoupled devices (CCD), complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)devices, micro-channel plates, etc. Suitable known materials (e.g.,semiconductor alloys) can be used for specific wavelengths of interest;cooling may be used.

Motion detection sensors. Examples of motion detection sensors withinthe scope of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, anyof the following: passive infrared (IR), ultrasonic, and microwave (RF).

Accelerometer sensors. Examples of accelerometer sensors within thescope of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, any ofthe following: capacitive accelerometers, piezoelectric accelerometers,and Hall-effect accelerometers.

Gyroscopic sensors. Examples of gyroscopic sensors within the scope ofthe present disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), and optical(fiberoptic) gyroscopes.

Humidity sensors. Examples of humidity sensors within the scope of thepresent disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: capacitive sensors, resistive sensors, and thermalconductivity sensors.

Optical sensors. Examples of optical sensors within the scope of thepresent disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: photodetectors, fiberoptic-based devices, and pyrometers;examples of photodetectors include, but are not limited to,photoconductors, photodiodes and avalanche photodiodes (APDs). Examplesof photodiodes within the scope of the present disclosure include, butare not limited to, p-n photodiodes, p-n photodiodes, heterostructurephotodiodes, and Schottky-barrier photodiodes (equivalently,“metal-semiconductor” photodiodes). Suitable known materials (e.g.,semiconductor alloys) can be used for specific wavelengths of interest;cooling may be used.

Radiation sensors. Examples of radiation sensors within the scope of thepresent disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: solid state detectors including, but not limited to,semiconductor detectors and solid scintillators, nuclear emulsiondetectors, including but not limited to, silver-halide film ionizingradiation detectors, and nuclear track detectors; semiconductordetectors can include, but are not limited to, germanium-baseddetectors, and/or silicon-based detectors. Examples of silicon-baseddetectors include, but are not limited to, surface barrier devices, PINdiodes, and Si (Li) devices.

Magnetic sensors. Examples of magnetic sensors within the scope of thepresent disclosure include, but are not limited to, any of thefollowing: coil sensors, fluxgate sensors, optically pumped sensors,nuclear precession sensors, superconducting quantum interference (SQUID)sensors, spin exchanged relaxation-free (SERF) magnetometers,Hall-effect sensors, anisotropic magnetoresistance sensors, giantmagnetoresistance sensors, magnetic tunnel junctions sensors, giantmagnetoimpedance sensors, piezoelectric composite sensors, magnetodiodesensors, magnetotransistor sensors, fiber optic sensors, magneto-opticsensors as well as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based magneticsensors.

An energy harvesting layer such as energy harvesting layer u6 mayinclude any type of suitable energy harvesting functionality. Examplesof energy harvesting within the scope of the present disclosure include,but are not limited to, any of the following: solar/photovoltaic;thermal, including, but not limited to pyroelectric and thermoelectric,e.g., those based on Bi, Sb, Te, and/or Se, to name just a few; Peltierdevices; chemical or ionic liquid electrolytes or redox-active liquidselectrolytes; kinetic/motion; piezoelectric; RF; and, metamaterial-basedenergy harvesting. Kinetic/motion-based energy harvesting can include,but is not limited to, piezoelectric, triboelectric, and insertionalinduction. In exemplary embodiments, photovoltaic (solar) cells are usedfor energy harvesting layer n6. In exemplary embodiments, fractalantennas are used for energy harvesting layer and receive RF power fromambient or directed RF transmissions received by the AES 100.

In exemplary embodiments, the processing layer n8 can include sensor anddata acquisition electronics along with computational platform (e.g.,including a processor or processors) for encoding (data from thesensors) for transmission. Processing layer 118 may include a timingmechanism for data acquisition and transmission/reception. Processinglayer 118 may include mesh relay circuitry for relaying wirelessly tonearby sensor systems as needed.

In exemplary embodiments, the reception/transmission layer 120 mayinclude an antenna and or fractal plasmonic surface; RF transceiver chipand circuitry; optionally, a GPS layer or device for timing and orposition may also be included.

In exemplary embodiments, the power storage layer 122 may include solarcells and/or rectifying antenna (“rectenna”) for power harvesting;battery with power management circuit; and/or super capacitor for powerstorage. In some embodiments, a piezo vibrational circuit for energyharvesting may be included. In exemplary embodiments, photovoltaic(solar) cells are used for energy harvesting layer 116.

Examples of uses for or applications of AESs such as AES 100 include,but are not limited to, the following: monitoring and/or controllinginfrastructure such as roads, bridges, buildings, locks, waterways,support structure, towers, communications equipment; lighting;pipelines; electric grid towers and hardware; vehicles; vessels;spacecraft; jets, helicopters and planes; lighter-than-air craft, e.g.,blimps; drones; plants, trees, and forests; crops; farm machinery; soiland/or water and/or air.

As was noted previously, one or more layers of an AES may possess adegree of lacunarity. Lacunarity indicates the presences of gaps,apertures, or voids within a structure such as a layer of an AES. FIG. 2depicts an example of an AES layer 200 having a degree of lacunarity.Lacunarity may be measured, e.g., by suitable techniques such asstandard box counting or a sliding box algorithm.

As shown in FIG. 2 , layer 200 includes multiple apertures 202-206disposed through its depth (thickness in the direction normal to thefigure). Apertures 202-206 may have different shapes (compare 202 with204) or they may have similar shapes (compare 204 with 206). Thepresence of apertures 202-206 may, e.g., allow radiation (e.g., RF,solar, heat) to pass through the layer and to or between other layers ina related stack of layers of an AES. In exemplary embodiments, aperturescan present a regular pattern. In exemplary embodiments, apertures canpresent rotational invariance and/or heterogeneity. In preferredembodiments, apertures may define a fractal pattern or metamaterialpattern in a layer, e.g., antenna layer 112 of FIG. 1 .

Layer 200 may also include various components 208-210, e.g., processors,discrete electrical components, memory units, etc., which may beconnected by conductive paths, e.g., conductive traces or wire(s) or thelike, 212. One or more connections 214, e.g., vias, may be present toprovide electrical connection(s) to one or more other layers in thestack of layers of the AES for, e.g., power and/or data transfer.

FIG. 3 depicts steps in a method 300 of operation of an AES, inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Asshown at 302, signals may be received by or transmitted from an antennacomponent, e.g., antenna layer, of an AES. While RF signals areindicated, optical signals—e.g., as sent from a laser diode and/orreceived by a photodetector— may be transmitted/received in otherembodiments. Data may be sensed or detected by one or more sensors of asensing component/layer, as described at 304. Examples of such sensorsare provided above for FIG. 1 .

Continuing with the description of method 300, energy may be harvestedfrom the environment (locale) local to the AES, as described at 306.Examples of energy harvesting layers are provided above for FIG. 1 .Data or information from the sensors/sensing layer may be formatted for(e.g., encoded) for transmission and data/information can be decodedfrom a reception (such as from the antenna layer), as described at 308.Any suitable encoding and decoding techniques/formats can be used, e.g.,such as are specified by known wireless standards including, but nolimited to, IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11e, IEEE802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ac Wave 2, IEEE802.11ad, IEEE 802.11ah, WiFi 4, WiFi 5, WiFI 6, GSM, 4G, LTE, LTEAdvanced, 2G, 3G, WiMAX (IEEE 802.16d), Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e),WiMAX 2.0 (IEEE 802.16m), IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee), 5G, 6G, or any otherstandards that may be developed.

With continued reference to FIG. 3 , data/signals from thesensors/sensing layer and/or data/signals received from thereception/transmission layer can be processed, e.g., by processing layer118 of FIG. 1 , as described at 310. Energy harvested by the harvestinglayer may be stored in, e.g., the power (or energy) storage layer 122,as described at 312.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated that AES according to the presentdisclosure possess benefits over prior techniques and devices. The AESdevices may be operated as sensor nodes in a mesh network.

Unless otherwise indicated, the AES and related method(s) of operationthat have been discussed herein are or can be implemented with or asspecially-configured computer processing systems (or sub-systems)specifically configured to perform the functions that have beendescribed herein for the AES and related methods. Each computer systemincludes one or more processors, tangible memories (e.g., random accessmemories (RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), and/or programmable readonly memories (PROMS)); such systems or sub-systems may also optionallyinclude tangible storage devices (e.g., hard disk drives and/or flashmemories or the like), system buses, network communication components,input/output ports, and/or user interface devices (e.g., keyboards,pointing devices, displays, microphones, sound reproduction systems,and/or touch screens).

Each computer processing system may include software (e.g., one or moreoperating systems, device drivers, application programs, and/orcommunication programs). When software is included, the softwareincludes programming instructions and may include associated data andlibraries. When included, the programming instructions are configured toimplement one or more algorithms that implement one or more of thefunctions of the computer system, as recited herein, e.g., as shown anddescribed for FIG. 3 . The description of each function that isperformed by each computer system also constitutes a description of thealgorithm(s) that performs that function.

The software may be stored on or in one or more non-transitory, tangiblestorage devices, such as one or more hard disk drives, CDs, DVDs, and/orflash memories. The software may be in source code and/or object codeformat. Associated data may be stored in any type of volatile and/ornon-volatile memory. The software may be loaded into a non-transitorymemory and executed by one or more processors.

The components, steps, features, objects, benefits, and advantages thathave been discussed are merely illustrative. None of them, or thediscussions relating to them, are intended to limit the scope ofprotection in any way. Numerous other embodiments are also contemplated.These include embodiments that have fewer, additional, and/or differentcomponents, steps, features, objects, benefits, and/or advantages. Thesealso include embodiments in which the components and/or steps arearranged and/or ordered differently.

Unless otherwise stated, all measurements, values, ratings, positions,magnitudes, sizes, and other specifications that are set forth in thisspecification, including in the claims that follow, are approximate, notexact. They are intended to have a reasonable range that is consistentwith the functions to which they relate and with what is customary inthe art to which they pertain.

All articles, patents, patent applications, and other publications thathave been cited in this disclosure are incorporated herein by reference.

The phrase “means for” when used in a claim is intended to and should beinterpreted to embrace the corresponding structures and materials thathave been described and their equivalents. Similarly, the phrase “stepfor” when used in a claim is intended to and should be interpreted toembrace the corresponding acts that have been described and theirequivalents. The absence of these phrases from a claim means that theclaim is not intended to and should not be interpreted to be limited tothese corresponding structures, materials, or acts, or to theirequivalents.

The scope of protection is limited solely by the claims that now follow.That scope is intended and should be interpreted to be as broad as isconsistent with the ordinary meaning of the language that is used in theclaims when interpreted in light of this specification and theprosecution history that follows, except where specific meanings havebeen set forth, and to encompass all structural and functionalequivalents.

Relational terms such as “first” and “second” and the like may be usedsolely to distinguish one entity or action from another, withoutnecessarily requiring or implying any actual relationship or orderbetween them. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” and any othervariation thereof when used in connection with a list of elements in thespecification or claims are intended to indicate that the list is notexclusive and that other elements may be included. Similarly, an elementproceeded by “a” or “an” does not, without further constraint(s),preclude the existence of additional elements of the identical type.

None of the claims are intended to embrace subject matter that fails tosatisfy the requirement of Sections lot, 102, or 103 of the Patent Act,nor should they be interpreted in such a way. Any unintended coverage ofsuch subject matter is hereby disclaimed. Except as just stated in thisparagraph, nothing that has been stated or illustrated is intended orshould be interpreted to cause a dedication of any component, step,feature, object, benefit, advantage, or equivalent to the public,regardless of whether it is or is not recited in the claims.

The abstract is provided to help the reader quickly ascertain the natureof the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding thatit will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of theclaims. In addition, various features in the foregoing detaileddescription are grouped together in various embodiments to streamlinethe disclosure. This method of disclosure should not be interpreted asrequiring claimed embodiments to require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are herebyincorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing onits own as separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless sensor node for a mesh network, thesensor node comprising: an antenna layer operative to receive andtransmit wirelessly, wherein the antenna layer further includes ametamaterial surface; a sensing layer including a fractal surface,operative to detect data from one or more sensors; an energy harvestinglayer operative to harvest energy from an environment local to thesensor node; a reception/transmission layer; a processing layeroperative to process data from the sensing layer and signals receivedfrom or provided to the reception transmission layer; and a powerstorage layer operative to store energy received from the energyharvesting layer for use by the sensor node.
 2. The wireless sensor nodeof claim 1, wherein the metamaterial surface includes one or moresplit-ring resonators.
 3. The wireless sensor node of claim 1, whereinthe energy harvesting layer includes a fractal plasmonic surface.
 4. Thewireless sensor node of claim 1, wherein the antenna layer includes oneor more fractals.
 5. The wireless sensor node of claim 1, wherein theenergy harvesting layer includes one or more photovoltaic cells.
 6. Thewireless sensor node of claim 1, wherein the multiple layers areconformable as a stack to a surface of an object.
 7. A wireless sensornode for a mesh network, the sensor node comprising: an antenna layeroperative to receive and transmit wirelessly, wherein the antenna layerfurther includes a metamaterial surface; a sensing layer including alacunar surface, operative to detect data from one or more sensors; anenergy harvesting layer operative to harvest energy from an environmentlocal to the sensor node; a reception/transmission layer; a processinglayer operative to process data from the sensing layer and signalsreceived from or provided to the reception transmission layer; and apower storage layer operative to store energy received from the energyharvesting layer for use by the sensor node.
 8. The wireless sensor nodeof claim 7, wherein the metamaterial surface includes one or moresplit-ring resonators.
 9. The wireless sensor node of claim 7, whereinthe energy harvesting layer includes a fractal plasmonic surface. 10.The wireless sensor node of claim 7, wherein the antenna layer includesone or more fractals.
 11. The wireless sensor node of claim 7, whereinthe energy harvesting layer includes one or more photovoltaic cells. 12.The wireless sensor node of claim 7, wherein the multiple layers areconformable as a stack to a surface of an object.